Why is Silk Bedding "Warm in Winter: Cool in Summer"?

What is a Tog Value?

How should Silk Bedding be cleaned?

Why is Silk endowed with "Hypoallergenic" or "Anti Allergy" status?

Why is Silk good for the health?

What should my Duvet Cover and Sheets and pillowcases be made of?

Why is only Long Silk used in the Duvet Filling?

Why is the Duvet Case tacked to the Duvet Filling rather than sewn "Quilt fashion"?

How can I check the Size Category of my bed?

Why is Silk Bedding "Warm in Winter: Cool in Summer"?

Silk can absorb water up to 30% of its own weight before it feels damp. As the temperature in the bed rises, you perspire more. The water then evaporates from the Silk Blanket or Duvet because of your body heat. Evaporation causes cooling. So in effect the silk acts as a thermostat. The more you heat up the more the silk will provides cooling and vice versa. So you get a good sleep at an even temperature all night long.

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What is a Tog Value?

The Tog Value reflects the thermal insulating property of the bedding. The value expresses the difference between the heat being applied underneath the duvet and the heat that escapes from the top. The thicker the duvet; the less heat escapes; the higher the Tog Value.

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How should Silk Bedding be cleaned?

Duvets & Blankets
The Chinese maintain that merely hanging them outside in the shade to air once or twice a year is all that is required. Something like a coffee spill can be sponged off under the tap and hung to dry. If all else fails they can be dry cleaned.

Sheets, Duvet Covers and Pillowcases
These can be machine washed at 30ºC using washing soap recommended for Silk & Wool. They can then be spun up to 900 rpm, hang dried and steam ironed on the minimum setting. Basically; silk doesn’t mind water but doesn’t much like heat.

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Why is Silk endowed with "Hypoallergenic" or "Anti Allergy" status?
House Mites and Dust Mites are a very frequent cause of allergic reaction in the home. One of their favorite locations is bedding. Their food source there is the dead skin that we naturally shed. Many people are allergic to the mites’ faeces. It has been observed that these mites will not –or more probably cannot- live in silk. So, provided all the non silk bedding is washed regularly to keep it "mite-free", This source of allergy can be controlled.

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Why is Silk good for the health?
Silk and our skin have the same types of Amino Acids. Long ago the Chinese observed that silk is beneficial to our skin: that is to say, they believe the aging of the face (wrinkles) is delayed and it is thought that these Amino Acids are responsible.
Another theory is that the reduced friction that silk imparts is kinder to the skin and is also kinder to one's hair, which is consequently less tousled in the morning.
The Chinese have also averred that silk prevents vascular sclerosis, relieves itchy skin, and assists in preventing arthritis.

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What should my Duvet Cover and Sheets and Pillowcases be made of?
The highest quality bedding that we recommend is based on Sand-Washed Habotai silk (perhaps with silk jacquard on the top of the duvet cover and pillowcase for decoration).
The words Habotai and Jacquard describe the types of weave. There are an immense quantity of different weaves of silk. They have wonderfully evocative names, like Crepe de Chine, Organza, Taffeta, Douppion, Crepe Satin, Chiffon; to name but a few. Our Habotai and Jacquard bedding is all made of long Mulberry silk. This is important as the long mulberry filaments ensure that these two fabrics are soft but strong, lightweight and not subject to 'pilling'.

We recommend this because:
They -both Habotai and Jacquard- can be machine washed at 30ºC and –if required- steam ironed.
They maintain the lightness of the silk duvet or blanket.
They enhance the possibilities that the Chinese attribute to silk, i.e. that silk worn next to the skin slows down the aging of one’s face and keeps one’s hair softer and smoother. Maybe this is because there is less friction between silk and the face and hair than is the case with other fabrics.
Habotai is not as slippery as satin, which means that you and the bedding are more likely to stay in the right place!
House and Dust Mites don’t like silk.
If you are completely surrounded by silk you are well defended!

Cotton or linen are good alternatives. They are considerably heavier and coarser –therefore more abrasive- than silk, but they can at least be washed frequently at a robust temperature (60ºC) to keep the dreaded Hose and Dust Mites at bay.

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Why is only Long Silk used in the Duvet Filling?
A Silk Worm’s thread can be over a mile long. The Duvet filling is made by stretching out many layers of un-spun silk to the size of the duvet. The photo here shows a duvet being made.
Each stretched layer looks like gossamer before it is laid on its fellows. These layers cannot move against each other, so there is no possibility of the silk migrating, or bunching up, within the duvet. A tacking stitch is then made every 40cm or so to hold the duvet’s shell in place.

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Why is the Duvet's shell tacked to the Duvet Filling rather than sewn "Quilt fashion"?
Since the filling cannot migrate within the case (see previous question) box-stitching is not necessary. More importantly, if the duvet were box-stitched, the duvet would lose a lot of its warmth, because the sewn lines would diminish insulation and become “cold lines” across the duvet.

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How can I check the Size Category of my bed?
British Standard Bed sizes are as follows:

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